title: Surgical therapy for craniocerebral firearm injury.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The current study aims to explore the clinical characteristics of craniocerebral firearm injury and to improve the diagnosis and treatment of this condition.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data from 56 patients with craniocerebral firearm injury were analyzed retrospectively for projectile types, traumatic conditions, and treatment approaches.
  
  
  RESULTS
  43 patients exhibited intracranial foreign body residence. Of them, 40 were subjected to complete foreign body removal and 2 to partial removal, leaving 1 without receiving removal treatment. 54 patients (96.4%) survived and 2 (3.6%) died. Of the survivors, 36 (64.3%) recovered well, 15 (26.8%) were moderately disabled, 2 (3.6%) were severely disabled, and 1 (1.8%) lapsed into vegetative state. Patients receiving debridement within 8 h after injury had a significantly higher recovery rate than those receiving such treatment after 8 h (82.1% vs. 26.7%; P < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Craniocerebral firearm injury is characterized by rapid traumatic condition development as well as serious trauma and contamination. Accurately judging the traumatic condition and the ballistic tract, performing complete debridement as early as possible, reasonably deciding on the operative mode and approach for intracranial residing foreign body removal, and increasing vigilance regarding concomitant injuries are the keys to the improvement of the overall treatment of craniocerebral firearm injury.
authors.affiliation: Fuzhou General Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Department of Neurosurgery, Fuzhou, China.
authors.forename: Liang-Feng
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Shou-Sen
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Jun-Jie
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Jing
authors.forename: Zhao-Cong
authors.initials: ZC
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Jin-Xi
authors.initials: JX
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Zheng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Ru-Mi
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D003646:Debridement; D019299:Decompression, Surgical; D005260:Female; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000601:surgery; D015600:Glasgow Coma Scale; D023261:Glasgow Outcome Scale; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D038361:Neuronavigation; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D010343:Patient Admission; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014948:Wounds, Gunshot / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D055815:Young Adult